Uphill Battle
by Ang3l S0ng
Summary: Time travel. Luffy has found himself in another strange adventure. Though this one might bring back some unkind memories.


**I know I know, I have a bunch of other stories I gotta update, but this has been sitting on my computer for ages. Wanted to try my hand at time travel cause I love it oh so much and I don't think there's enough of these. This may later get pushed to the side because I do have another idea for a time travel fic that I think will be better but we'll see. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Uphill Battle**

 **Prologue**

The forest seemed darker then it normally did, more ominous even. The midday sun shone through the canopy of leaves above him, casting green tinted shadows that moved and swayed with the wind.

"ACE! SABO! Where are you!?" Luffy called into the wilderness around him. There was no reply except the caws of birds and the buzzing of bugs going about their own business, uninterested in the lost boy.

Luffy had just wanted to go see the cool looking snake for one second and next thing he knew, Ace and Sabo had gotten themselves lost. Typical.

The raven haired boy tried not to think about how scary the forest suddenly seemed now that his brothers weren't with him. He was old enough to take care of himself. He didn't need his brothers to protect him. But, Luffy decided, after hearing a rather nasty snarl from some animal nearby, it wouldn't be a completely bad thing if they were here.

Luffy reached up and gripped the brim of his precious straw hat, leant to him by none other than Red Haired Shanks himself, pulling it down slightly as a small comfort. He only held on tighter when the wind picked up and wrapped around him. The sudden gust took him off guard and almost knocked him off his feet but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

He thought carefully about what he should do. Sabo had always told him that if he got lost he should stay where he was. But what if a bear found him before his brothers did? Or a tiger? He couldn't stay here and let himself be eaten, at least not without a fight.

So, despite his brother's words, Luffy began his trek through the thick foliage. To keep himself occupied he began to hum a made up song to himself, trying to break the silence that was normally filled with the voices and laughter of his brothers.

While trying to look for any sign of his lost siblings a very bright white light startled him. The sudden flash illuminated the shadows in the forest, seemingly engulfing the nature around him. It was so bright he had to turn his head away and clamp his eyes shut. His skin tingled and he suddenly felt warm. The light faded quickly, leaving Luffy with black spots in his vision. The call of adventure told him to find the source of whatever had made that light. With a large grin Luffy ran in the direction he thought the light came from.

Five minutes later, he stumbled upon a very large clearing, one similar to the one that the siblings trained in. What really caught the young child's attention was the giant circle of charred grass that sat in the middle of the open space. At the center of the burnt grass was a body. This sight caused Luffy to freeze. The person was lying on their stomach, face turned away from Luffy but from where he stood just at the edge of the circle, he could make out black hair. The person was male and wore a red hoodie with the sleeves ripped to just below his shoulders and blue shorts with a yellow sash around his waist. What really caught Luffy's attention was the Jolly Roger sewn into the back of his hoodie, a grinning skull wearing a straw hat.

Luffy became both excited and weary upon seeing the mark. This man was a pirate which was so cool in itself but on one hand he could be just like Blue jam and tie him up and hit him with spikey gloves. On the other hand, he could be like Shanks and maybe he could even be Luffy's friend!

Luffy took a couple of slow steps towards the prone body and when he was standing over him he nudged the man in the side with his sandaled foot. "Oi, mister?" When he gained no response Luffy knelt down, wrapping his arms around his knees and proceeded to poke the object of his interest in the shoulder. Still no response. "Are you alive mister?" He asked tilting his head.

"I think it came from this way."

"I bet you twenty beri that Luffy had something to do with that light."

Luffy looked up at the sound of the two familiar voices of his brothers. Turning around he grinned as they entered the clearing, and just as he had done, they both froze. Quickly they raised their pipes, ready to leap into action. Ace and Sabo had lost sight of Luffy on their way back to their treehouse and as usual they had gone out to find him, much to both of their annoyance. However, they became more worried when a bright light flooded the forest and finding Luffy became a little more urgent. Their younger sibling had a knack for finding trouble.

The last thing they expected, however, was to find said little brother crouched beside a supposedly unconscious stranger inside a circle of brunt grass that had certainly not been there before.

"Ace! Sabo! Look! I found a strange guy!"

"Luffy, get over here." Ace ordered, not having a good feeling about Luffy being that close to the unknown man.

Luffy just simply blinked at his brothers not really understanding why they were so worried. The man wasn't even awake, what could happen?

The man beside Luffy groaned, startling him and causing him to stumble and fall on his back. Ace and Sabo acted quickly, running forwards and each grabbing Luffy under the arm before pulling him back to a safe distance.

The man shifted slowly, as if in pain, he pulled his arm up to lay his palm flat on the ground. He then pushed himself up onto all fours, shaking his head. Two of the three brothers watched cautiously while the third just watched with curiosity, wondering who the mystery man was and why he thought it was a good idea to take a nap in the middle of the forest. That's how people got sick.

Suddenly the man flopped down, sitting cross legged and grabbed his head. "OW!" He yelled. Ace and Sabo jumped, startled and pulled Luffy behind them protectively. Despite this Luffy still watched the stranger over his brother's shoulders, having to stand on his toes to see.

Then the man was looking at them. Ace clenched his pipe tightly. The man's eyes seemed to stare into his very soul and Ace suddenly felt intimidated. This man was strong, probably stronger than anyone they'd ever come across. He could feel it. A quick glance to Sabo informed him that he could feel it too. But it wasn't just that, there was something about the man's eyes. Something that felt almost familiar, but that familiarity was buried by something Ace couldn't name. Either way Ace felt the urge to protect his brothers at all costs, his heart thumping in his chest as his white knuckled grip on his pipe threatened to snap the metal in half.

The man however, just stared at him with wide eyes. Ace detected so many emotions in that look; pain, shock, sadness, confusion. But as quickly as Ace blinked they were gone leaving only a happiness that made him question if he'd even seen the other emotions at all.

"Ace! You're-" The man suddenly stopped and frowned in what seemed to be confusion, looking him over again. Ace felt oddly vulnerable under the man's gaze. "Tiny?" He finished and before he could question how the man knew his name in the first place, he felt annoyance rush through him.

"Who the hell are you calling tiny, bastard!" Ace yelled back, against his better judgement.

Luffy snickered behind them and Ace had to restrain himself from spinning around and punching the kid in the head.

Sabo put a hand on Ace's shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the stranger. "Who are you?"

The stranger stared at them blankly before dropping his fist into his open palm as if realizing something. "Ah! That guy must've sent me all the way back here! So that means…" The man locked gazes with Luffy and grinned again. "I'm tiny too!"

Ace and Sabo turned to look at Luffy and back to the man, evidently confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ace growled not liking the man's attention on his little brother. "He asked you a question! Who the hell are you!?"

Surprisingly it wasn't the man who answered but rather Luffy who squeezed between his brothers, a large grin on his face. "He's a pirate!" The youngest evaded his brother's hands that reached out to pull him back. "Right mister?"

There was a slight pause where the man didn't react at all, simply just staring at Luffy blankly. Ace and Sabo waited tensely, ready to jump it if the man made any move towards the younger raven haired boy.

The man was just about to answer when he turned his head towards the forest to their left as if he had heard something. Nothing happened for a moment until a deep growl sounded from the direction the man was looking.

Ace and Sabo cursed their luck as the giant tiger that inhabited the mountain decided to pick that moment to make an appearance. At least Luffy was smart enough to see the danger and run back to his brother's side. They had taken down this beast together before and they could do it again.

However, it seemed like they wouldn't have too. The tiger's attention was taken by the stranger who hadn't even budged from his spot on the ground. Sabo cupped his hand around his mouth and yelled over to the idiot as the tiger barred down on him. "Do you want to die? Run!"

The man looked over at them and actually _pouted,_ that in itself threw Sabo off, and slowly stood up. "Like this thing could kill me." Ace and Sabo shared a glance. The way he had said it wasn't as if he was boasting or overconfident, it was as if he was saying the sky was blue or the grass was green. It was a simple fact that everyone knew.

The man turned around and gave them a clear view of the Jolly Roger on his back.

The tiger pounced, its massive size shrouding the man in shadow as its sharp claws came ever closer to shredding the man to bits. The three kids ignored the urge to cringe away from the inevitably grotesque aftermath that was sure to occur.

But it didn't.

Just as the creature neared the man raised his hand and narrowed his eyes at his attacker. The boys recognized the move, having seen the old man from before do the same thing to the bear. It was no less amazing the second time as the tiger came to a screeching halt mere feet from the man. "That move again…" Sabo muttered, voicing what Ace was thinking.

"Sugoi…" Luffy whispered, pulling his hat tighter on his head, once again reminded of his mentor. Luffy now had no doubts about this pirate.

Instead of the creature turning around and leaving like last time the tigers massive head bent down to sniff at its supposed prey a deep hum sounded from its chest as its tongue flopped out and proceeded to lick the entirety of the man, leaving no place on him un-slobbered. The boys cringed in disgust as globs of saliva dripped off of him.

To their surprise the pirate laughed. "I like you!"

If it was possible for a tiger to look flattered, then this one would definitely be.

The pirate looked over at them. "She won't hurt you, she's my friend now."

Living with Luffy as a little brother had desensitized them to weirdness like that sentence, or this whole situation even. Speaking of Luffy, he once again ran forwards towards the pirate, followed quickly by his brothers, though they watched cautiously as the massive tiger made its way to the edge of the clearing to take a nap.

"You did the same thing as Shanks and the old man! That was so cool!" Luffy exclaimed jumping around and throwing his hands in the air.

The pirate grinned and flicked some slobber off of him onto the grass. "I know right?"

"How did you do it?" Ace demanded none to nicely. Sabo rolled his eyes at his brother.

"We should probably introduce ourselves first." Sabo said, ignoring the glare Ace shot his way. "My names Sabo and these are my brother's Ace and Luffy."

"Yeah, I know who you guys are." The pirate said resting his hands on his hips.

Ace and Sabo tensed.

Seeing their stressed postures, the pirate laughed a short 'shishishi' that reminded them very much of Luffy's laugh. "I know who you are because my name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm from the future!"

…

…

…

… _what?_

 **Love those boys. Just thought I'd give this a try!**

 **Until Next Time!**

 **-Ang3l**


End file.
